J the Drafter wrote:Not this reasoning again. Can't we just take Charles' advice as the words of a man who played professional basketball, and excelled in doing it?

Hall of famer. MVP once, almost twice. 11 time allstar. First year with the suns 60+ wins and made the finals only to lose to the GOAT in 6 competitive games. Next two years went 7 games against the eventual champions both times. He may not have a ring, but he knew how to compete with the best of them. I'd listen to him about basketball over the critics on this board any day.

Barkley is right that you need a mix of youth and vets but it hardly takes a rocket scientist to figure that out. To add to that (and this not directed towards you OrlandO), why are we talking about contending right now?

I don't think the barkley comment was about contending now... more about how veteran presence will help shape our youth in hopes to better contend in the future. That's where the Barkley and Moses Malone comment comes in. Barkley only played with Malone in his first two years, yet he gives him a lot of credit for the impact his presence had on his career. Not that we have Barkley or a Moses Malone type player, but I think it's important for the younger guys to see how hustle on both sides of the floor can pay off even for an underdog player like big baby - short, fat, can't jump, yet often impacts the game when he puts in the proper effort. Same with Redick and Afflalo's approach to the game... They aren't allstars, but Harkless already admires how seriously they take the game. Rookies are impressionable. They're looking for guidance and what they see early in their careers may help mold them. All these veterans may not be around when we're finally ready to compete again, but you still have to operate as if you're on track for the best case scenario or else your team will never succeed. You cannot just toss the vets aside in favor of developing the inexperienced players.

tiderulz wrote:look, im not saying Barkley wasnt a great player, and anyone knows to win, you need vets with some youth, but just to say you take someones word because they played in the nba. Jordan was a great player too, he has no clue how to build a team. How did McHales' stint go as a GM with Garnett dropped in his lap? Playing in the NBA and building a winning team are 2 different skill sets.

That is true about the most talented players failing in the front office. However, I don't see how your original comments about Barkley were relevant to Malik Starks's post.

Malik Starks wrote:Barkely always says that the best way to build is with a mixture of young players AND veterans. He always says he could not have been the player he became without guys like Moses Malone to show him how to be a pro. Players like JJ, Meer, and BBD are crucial to this team and it's future.

tiderulz wrote:Barkely? What has BArkely won? What championship teams has he built?

Aside from unfairly criticizing Barkley's winning history, I think you missed Starks' point. He's talking about Barkley's early experience with Moses Malone that directly impacted the way he approached the game for the rest of his career. To put it into perspective, they were only teammates for his first two years. In this case it has nothing to do with Barkley playing general manager. It's about his first-hand experience as a player and what the presence of a veteran did for him when he was younger. Experience will only get a rookie so far.

I guess its the opening statement of "Barkley always says the best way to build". Again, Barkley played, he has not ever built anything. I had stated that many good to great NBA players have no idea how to build or run a team.

And how is stating that Barkley never won a championship, never built a team unfairly criticizing him. Is it incorrect? Did he build a winning team or organization?

And it takes the right type of player to learn from the vets. Bynum learned from Kobe and Gasol, he is still a bonehead. You need not only the right type of vets (you dont need Prime Arenas, Bynum, Artest, Sprewell) and the right type of young players (not Bynum, Blatche, Cousins), etc, ones that will listen and learn.